I am just loving not having classes at school. I love the summer holidays. I don't like summer much but I sure love the holiday break. Not that I haven't been working. Today I took all my own children to school and along with my Principal's son, we finished up our Christmas boxes. We finally packed up 24 full shoe boxes and one giant teddy wearing a Santa hat.

See, a couple of years ago my school took part in the Christmas box scheme, is it from oOxfam perhaps? You fill a shoebox with a range of useful items and toys and wrap it up, then send it to Africa. Now that's not a bad idea for the English, but sending stuff from here to Africa is pretty tough. It costs $7 per box just to ship it. So this year I decided we'd do some boxes for local kids in need instead. Our seniors had left school to sit their external exams so the juniors were all challenged to bring in things like toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, toys and little books, felt pens, skipping ropes etc, and we filled shoeboxes in whanau time (that's a kind of form time). It's amazing that we ended up with 24 pretty wrapped boxes (and one big Ted)! Today we drove them over to the Catholic school in Newtown where the Principal said she had some very deserving children who would get a Christmas shoebox! It was good. Some of our girls came from that school so their little brothers and sisters might even bring home a St Cath's shoebox. I'm just glad we focused on doing good before Christmas.

I still have a heap of work to do at school but I want to spend some time with my own children as well. I can't believe Christmas is coming so fast. I thought I was getting ready... but as usual, it's just not happening as fast as I would like. I'm just so tired. Still, gotta keep on.

It has been really windy the last week or so. Northerlies have battered us endlessly. I don't usually mind but this has been really frustrating. You open the car boot to get something out and papers fly everywhere. Doors slam constantly. The washing blows around. The basketball hoop has broken. Hats fly off. Recycling blows away. Spring here, as I've said before, is crap. At least it's warm though.

I still don't know what we are going to do over the holidays. I want to go away again. Just get out of the house and go. I was rolling up Christy's OC poster of Seth today and I remembered buying it in Germany. I remember that so clearly it's like it was just last month. I'd like to shop there again one day. Europe is definitely interesting and so very, very different from here. I'd still like to go to China again more though. I think I'm Asian inside. It's funny, it's apparently quite acceptable here for a Chinese person to refer to an Asian who is Westernised as a banana, yellow on the outside but white on the inside. Heh. I think I'm the opposite. I'm an egg... white on the outside...

And on that note, it's late and I have more harrowing non-fiction to read. I think I'll get on with my own writing from tomorrow night. I'm sick of real life suffering. I want to wallow in imagination-land. My imagination land. My world and welcome to it. It's what we make it, huh. I watched Groundhog Day this morning with breakfast (don't ask). And yet again it makes me think about what I'm doing with my life. Not that I'm worried about what I'm doing, but I think it's important to keep checking that it's (for me) meaningful and stimulating ... and just good. And that sounds weird when I'm on a site where I have made so many enemies. I still don't get that. *shrug* whatever. I'm learning, amongst other things, to move on and on ...and on. Along. And up, even. *g*

Tomorrow, a long drive out to Paraparaumu to see my girls on their leadership camp. Then I'll have the afternoon to... hmmmm... I'll let you know. I hope not just sorting the laundry.